Government Types/Definitions

Feudalism: A form of government in which local landowners (lords) have authority over their own lands but must give military service and other support to a greater lord (king).

Socialism: A form of government in which property and businesses are owned by the people as a group.

Communism: A form of Socialism authored by Karl Marx. He believed class struggle would lead to the creation of a society where the community as a whole owned all wealth and property.

Democracy: A form of government in which the ruling power is held by the people.

Representative Democracy: A form of government in which the people elect a small group of persons to act as their representatives.

Capitalism: An economic system in which individuals own and operate the means of production for profit.

Bureaucracy: A system of managing government in which specialized departments are run by government officials. It is usually large and very complex (red tape).

Fascism: A form of government authored by Benito Mussolini, named after an ancient Roman symbol of the power, "fasces" (an axe embedded in a bundle of sticks). The philosophy is anti-democratic, anti-communist with support of a strong and expanding nation. Because of the uniforms that Mussolini's army wore, they were known as the "Black Shirts".

Nazism:(National Socialist German Workers' Party) A form of government authored by Adolf Hitler in his book entitled, "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle). The philosophy is anti-democratic, anti-communist with support of a strong and expanding nation. The basis of Hitler's nationalism was his belief in the superiority of the Aryan race with a historical destiny to rule the world. He identified the Jews as the Germany's greatest enemy and blamed them for the loss of World War I. Hitler's paramilitary force was known as the "Brown Shirts", possibly a take off of the "Black Shirts" of Mussolini, whom Hitler greatly admired.

Totalitarianism: A form of government in which all aspects of people's lives are regulated by a one party dictatorship.

Dictatorship: A form of government in which one ruler has complete control.

*Special thanks to my wife, Kathleen for her help in compiling this list*